Young remains a Mountaineer

LEDGER – Mitchell High School senior Ben Young will continue his football career as a Mountaineer but now at Appalachian State University.

Young made his decision official with a signing this past Wednesday in front of his immediate family and some of the members of the Mitchell athletic department. He will enroll at Appalachian State in the spring of 2019.

Young spent all four of his years at Mitchell as the starting quarterback and will head to Boone as a preferred walk-on.

Young led the Mountaineers to a 48-11 overall record in his four years as a starter and completed 55 percent of his passes for 7,970 yards and 87 touchdowns compared to 40 interceptions.

Young, who is listed at 6-1 and 210 pounds, said the coaches at App State view him as a power halfback.

Young was a consistent contributor on the ground for Mitchell, rushing 557 times for 3,563 yards and 57 touchdowns. He racked up more than 1,000 rushing yards as a sophomore and junior and just missed the mark this past season with 989.

Young amassed more than 100 rushing yards in 13 games during his prep career.

“I don’t think it will be too hard,” Young said about the transition to halfback. “I definitely won’t be throwing any, so it’ll be kind of different.”

Young will join an App State team that enters the season with an established senior running back in Jalin Moore. There are four sophomores behind Moore on the depth chart.

Young said the coaches have told him he has a roster spot but he added he knows he “has to earn it.”

App State is coming off a 9-4 season that was capped with a 34-0 win over Toledo in the Dollar General Bowl.

“The whole process was really exciting,” Young said. “I’ve really liked App State from the start. I just knew if I could get there, that’s where I wanted to go.”

Young also played four seasons of varsity baseball and a pair of seasons of basketball at Mitchell.

“It was wonderful,” Young said about his time at Mitchell. “I was surrounded by wonderful people. The coaches here did everything they could for me. I’m very happy with where I’m at right now.”